"Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." - Jude 3

I'm writing a paper on Jude and the necessity of it in the canon as it applies to me. One of the frustrating things about writing a paper about a book like this is how much time I have to spend in the book to really get an understanding of it. But on the flip-side I always feel like I have a grasp of it after extensive homework.

Today I'm processing what it means to contend for the faith delivered to the saints. The epistle of Jude focuses primarily on the subject of heresy and how once it creeps in it corrupts. The book uses some powerful imagery including how Sodom and Gomorrah were utterly destroyed because of their wickedness and how even angels who went astray were not spared God's wrath.

So now I'm wondering what sorts of things, even those which seem innocent at first, have crept in to my life, theology, or ministry which will lead me or my friends down a path to destruction. I don't mean this to cause us to live in fear (it shouldn't), but a healthy evaluation of the significance of the faith I've embraced might be in order. And am I really contending for the gospel? Or am I so focused on other things I miss the gospel and slowly it becomes distorted until its straight up heresy?

What about those around me and how do I appeal for them to contend for the faith the way it was delivered to them?